The ancient Greeks knew about magnets, and they knew about electricity, too. But it wasnt until the nineteenth century that a connection between the two was discovered. Staff physicist Paul Doherty tells the story of how a professor made the connectionwhich led to modern motors.

In November 2009, Exploratorium After Dark welcomed particle physicist Dr. Austin Richardsaka Dr. MegaVolt. Under the Palace of Fine Arts rotunda, he jousted with a high-voltage Tesla coil, which generated 200,000 volts of electricity and shot 14-foot-long arcs of lightning through the air.

This electrifying After Dark event featured Austin Richards, Ph.D.aka, Dr. MegaVoltjousting with 14-foot electrical arcs from his high-voltage Tesla coil on the evening of Thursday, November 5, 2009. This wonderful performance contributed to the celebration of the Exploratoriums 40th Anniversary.

Cheer on the competitors in this zany science cook-off. Teachers compete before a live audience at the Exploratorium for the revered title, "Iron Science Teacher." This week's secret ingredient: batteries.

The air is so dry here at McMurdo that anything that gets charged, stays charged. Moist air quickly discharges objects because the water in the air picks up charge from an object and quickly flies away, taking charges with it. This does not happen here. We are constantly getting shocks from our clothing, our bedding and when we exit vehicles.

Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation.

Bandwidth and infrastructure support for connectivity to the California Research and Education Network and to other Internet2-connected networks provided by the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).